Not a great environment. - Designer Blizzard Entertainment Employee Review

2.0
7 Oct 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- lots of people are kind as individuals. I made some amazing friends at Blizzard. - work/life balance is fine if you are very intentional about maintaining it.

Cons

- women consistently under promoted and under paid. - if you raise issues you will be talked down to and looked over for promo. - Bobby Kotick runs the show. Ybarra is just a figurehead. Kotick is clearly just trying to rack up a high score for his bank account, and has no real regard for employees. Many members of upper management were the same in my time there. - extremely low pay. People stay for 10+ years and leave with no stock options, no great pay history, nothing on par with what they deserve. Over time, I realized working at Blizzard was somewhat like being in an abusive relationship. Some escape, and some find it tough or impossible to leave, and become accustomed to or excuse the systemic poor treatment.

Explore other reviews about Blizzard Entertainment

5.0
2 Jun 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Really great people, best and kindest in the business

Cons

Compensation is on lower side

2.0
23 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Depending on the team, you get to work with some great people. - Company events are fun and make you temporarily forget that you're still in a corporate environment. - You're near the games being released.

Cons

On the surface, the company talks a big game about being structured and performance-driven. In reality, it feels pretty chaotic once you’re actually in it. Expectations aren’t clearly defined, and what “success” looks like seems to shift depending on the week or who you’re talking to. You end up spending more time managing optics and trying to stay aligned with moving targets than actually doing solid engineering work. What makes it worse is how management handles team dynamics. Toxic behavior doesn’t really get addressed — if anything, it sometimes feels like it’s enabled. Feedback can feel very one-sided, and when you raise concerns, they’re not always taken seriously or represented fairly. There are definitely moments where the narrative about your performance doesn’t match the reality of what you’re actually doing day to day, which slowly kills trust. At a minimum, leadership needs to get better at clear communication, setting stable and objective expectations, and actually supporting both engineers and managers. Without that, even strong teams start to feel dysfunctional. Compensation doesn’t make up for it either. It often feels like decisions are driven by cost-cutting rather than recognizing real impact, which makes the whole environment feel more transactional than motivating. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this place in its current state, especially if you’re an experienced professional looking for a stable, well-run role.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All